Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Sports Briefs: Segger first in Irish ultramarathon

Squamish ultra-runner Jen Segger added another title to her growing list this past weekend with a first-place finish at the 100km/50km Causeway Crossing trail run in Ireland. The race started at Glenarm at 6 a.m.

Squamish ultra-runner Jen Segger added another title to her growing list this past weekend with a first-place finish at the 100km/50km Causeway Crossing trail run in Ireland.

The race started at Glenarm at 6 a.m. on March 31 with a tough climb from almost sea level to over 550 metres in elevation, dipping down to about 300 metres before winding back up to another peak over 500 metres. That's the toughest climb on the course, which undulates up and down after that point as it passes by the Giants Causeway World Heritage Site.

Segger finished first among women in the event and fourth overall — just three seconds back of third overall with a time of 11 hours, 27 minutes and 11 seconds. The next female runner was in over 45 minutes later.

Of the 27 runners going the full distance, 11 didn't reach the finish.

After the race, Segger headed to Greece for Salomon Advanced Week, a week of trail running hosted by Salomon for its pro athletes. She was back out and running trails in the hot sun within a few days of finishing in Ireland, testing shoes and other gear that will be available next year.

Her next race is the the Sun Mountain 50-Miler in Washington State in May, and she's the race director for the Loop the Lakes run in Squamish on May 27.

BC Bike Race sold out for 2012

Registration into the sixth annual BC Bike Race has closed after the race reached its capacity of 500 participants.

The racers meet in North Vancouver on June 30 this year, then head to Cumberland on Vancouver Island for the first day of racing. Campbell River is Day 2, Powell River is Day 3, Sunshine Coast is Day 4 and 5, Squamish is Day 6 and Whistler is Day 7.

In addition to the cross-country race there will be a total of 15 timed descents this year for the more downhill-oriented riders in the event. Like last year there were both Epic and Challenge categories, with the Epic riders going about 50 to 75 per cent further on most days.

For more, visit www.bcbikerace.com.

Every Woman conference turning nine end of april

This April 27 to 29 marks the ninth running of the Whistler Every Woman in the World Conference, a three-day event packed with workshops, socials, group activities and motivational speakers. Many of the workshops and events promote health and wellness, although others teach financial planning, career planning and more.

A complete schedule and list of programs is at www.everywomanintheworld.com. Some of the workshops on the list include Nordic walking, learning to mountain bike, kayaking, yoga, nia, Boot Camp, Gyrokinesis, hypnotherapy, pelvic floor fitness, Bellyfit, Astrology, various dance classes, martial arts, and more.

For locals with accommodation workshops can be purchased a la carte along with tickets for social events as well. For more, visit the website.

Sea to Sky runners are April Fools

A few Whistler runners made the ferry trip to the Sunshine Coast on Sunday for the annual April Fool's Run Half Marathon. The race starts at Gibsons and follows side roads to Sechelt.

The fastest Whistler runner was Ashley McMillan, who placed ninth overall and second in the men's 35 to 39 age category in 1:18:01. He averaged a kilometre every three minutes and 42 seconds.

John Blok was fourth in men's 55 to 59 in 1:36:30.

Nancy MacConnachie was fifth in women's 40 to 44 in 1:47:00.

Christine Suter was seventh in women's 40 to 44 in 1:47:37.

Anisa Mori was 16th in Women's 25 to 29 in 1:52:22.

Sonia Mahoney was 207th in 1:54:48.

From Squamish, Volker Scneider was fourth in the male 40 to 44 race in 1:24:44.

Ultra runner Margreet Dietz was 34th overall and second in women's 40 to 44 in 1:26:54.

Zoe Dawson was sixth out of 40 runners in women's 25 to 29 in 1:29:49.

Timothy Moore was third in men's 45 to 59 in 1:30:10.

Sean McCreanor was sixth in men's 40 to 44 in 1:31:01.

Simon Green was eighth in men's 35 to 39 in 1:40:30.

Emma Seguss was fourth in women's 35 to 39 in 1:41:10.

Dawn Green was seventh in women's 35 to 39 in 1:48:10.

Thomas Monnier was 22nd in men's 30 to 34 in 1:49:34.

Sheena Williams and Di Adams were 24th and 25th in women's 30 to 34 in 1:57:06.

Due to space, only runners under two hours were included. Complete results are online at www.raceheadquarters.com.

In the relay, Team Bloom of Squamish was second in the Under 80 category. The Snow Runners of Whistler were third in the 100 to 199 group. Fools 1/7 of Squamish were fourth in 80-plus.

Paralympians carry Rick Hansen's medal on 25th anniversary of tou

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of his Man in Motion World Tour, Rick Hansen has been recreating the Canadian section of his global wheelchair ride in relay form, inviting people to run, cycle and wheel from point to point.

Along the way he's been enlisting Paralympic athletes to help. Josh Dueck — who recently gained fame by landing the first backflip on a sit ski and was featured shredding the backcountry in the documentary The Freedom Chair — carried the medal through his hometown of Vernon on April 1.

"It's probably one of the greatest things I've ever been a part of," said Dueck. "Because of Rick Hansen and the way he's lived his life, and what he's done to improve the quality of life of people with spinal chord injuries, it's given me the opportunity to live the life that I do."

Kimberley Joines, another member of the national team, will carry the medal through Rossland on April 25.

The tour will finish up at the Pacific Coliseum on May 22 — 25 years to the day after the Man in Motion Tour ended. The tour raised $26 million worldwide for spinal chord research.

For more on the anniversary, visit www.rickhansen.com.

SpiderTech to race Tour de Suisse

Team SpiderTech powered by C10 is the first Canadian-based road cycling team to earn full continental cup status from the International Cycling Union (UCI), which gives them the ability to enter top tier events around the world and to receive invites to the very highest level World Tour competitions like the Tour de France.

Last week the team, which includes Whistler's Will Routley, received its first wild card invitation to take part in the Tour de Suisse bike race, which is recognized as the fourth-biggest race in the world and will be the team's most high-profile competition to date.

"This is fantastic news for all of us at Team SpiderTech," said team sport director Steve Bauer.

"We made very public our vision to crack the World Tour and this is another step in the right direction. We will use this golden opportunity to show we can race amongst the biggest teams in the largest races. Our results this season, three podiums early in the season, capped with a few top 15 rankings in classic races, are a testament to the strength of our program."

The 75th anniversary of the Tour de Suisse last year was broadcast in over 100 countries.